Not a great day...

Well, we've reached a landmark in being new parents...our twins' first head colds. Both have clogged noses, low-grade fevers and are coughing wet coughs. They're in pretty good spirits in spite of how they feel. Kathy noticed yesterday, though, that Jason would stop breathing every now and again and then start up again on his own. So we called the Pediatrician this morning and told him about the symptoms of the cold and then Jason's breathing issues. Dr. Garber thought we should be on the safe side and admit Jason to Framingham Union Hospital for overnight observation. Kathy will be staying with him overnight.

One of the concerns was that Jason had contracted RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus), which is basically a nasty little virus that can cause bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and other upper-respiratory illnesses. They ran the tests, and sadly they came back positive. You can read about this here:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/rsvfeat.htm

So once again we're in the hospital. Hopefully Kevin doesn't have it too, but chances are good he does. Seems to be contagious. Yay.

You know, I thought everything was going too well.

More later,
Joe

Field Trip

Thursday was a great day. I went home at lunchtime and picked up my sons and my wife and brought them to my workplace. This is really the first place the boyz have been outside of a doctor's office. Needless to say, they were a hit. Since Kathy works here, too, it was a nice homecoming for her as well. We are just proud as punch of our children and were happy to show them off.

Kathy and Kay weighed the babies this week. They're growing like little weeds, they are. Jason weighed in about 9.5 lbs, and Kevin weighed in at 9lbs. Real babies, you know? It's hard to believe they're going to be two months old soon. Time is flying by. Honestly, it makes it harder coming to work every day when I think about things like that. I mean, they'll only be this small once in their lives, and I just hate the thought of missing this time. Yes, I see them every evening, but still. I really, really look forward to the weekends.

We're in the process of getting our act together to find a in-home caregiver (aka Nanny) for Jason & Kevin. Kathy will be going back to work in a month or so and we kinda need to find someone. Stressful to even think about, really. I wish we could really afford to have one of us stay home with them. Not only that, it's difficult at our age to rejoin the tech workforce. Now imagine that we try to get hired a few years from now when the kids are in school. We'll be AARP members by then.

Maybe it's time to explore opening my bakery/coffee shop...hmm...

More thoughts later,

Joe

Happy Easter

Just a quick note to wish all readers of the kickyandjumpy blog (and, what the heck, even those who don't read it) a happy Easter. Kevin & Jason are enjoying their first Easter quite a bit. They're sitting back today and wondering what the death and resurrection of Jesus has to do with a bunny rabbit leaving chocolate eggs for the children. But, seeing as they'll be getting lots of candy in the years to come, they'll leave that condundrum aside for when they're in college and discussing philosophy and the traditions of modern civilization.

That being said, Happy Easter everyone!

-Joe

Happy Guinness Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the two little Irish twins (meant as actual twins who are Irish, not the common vernacular of "Irish twins", of course).

If all went according to plan, the boyz due date would have been March 15, or due days before this post. I have to say, we're all adjusting quite well to having babies in the house for them being two days old. ::snicker:: That being said, Kevin & Jason are doing very well. They're even outgrowing a lot of the clothing that initially fit them (preemie sizing). They look like real little 2 day old babies. In the photo, Jason is on the left, Kevin on the right.

But can you imagine Kathy going full term with two children, one 8lbs and the other 7lbs 4oz? I did the math, and that adds up to...utter discomfort. Envision carrying a 15lb baby. That would be remarkable, and all the women who have carried babies who are reading this would most likely find other adjectives for that sentence. When the babies were born on Feb 8, they weighed a combined 11lbs 4oz. Time to insert those adjectives again.

My dad came by this weekend with some very yummy dishes that my mom put together, including two very cute Easter baskets that my mom also made. While my dad was here, we put together the two cribs we have. We're missing a part for one of them (on order), but there's no rush...both babies fit very comfortably in one. Truthfully, they're swimming in the hugeness of the crib. But I imagine that it offers more comfort and support than the twins bassinettes. So thank you very much, Dad. He was a trooper, assembling cribs with the shingle pain and everything. My folks head back to Florida on Wednesday, but they'll be back sometime in May.

Kay is making a tremendous meal consisting of corned beef, so I must sign off. As always, more later.

-Joe

And the results are in...

We successfully got out of the house and were even a few minutes early for the pediatrician appointment this morning. Yay us! Of course, it helps that the doc's office is basically 5 miles from the house.

The boyz were weighed and measured. The results are staggering. ;-)

Jason weighed in at 8lbs even. He's currently 20.5 inches in length.
Kevin weighed in at 7lbs 4oz and is 20 inches in length.

For those of you keeping score at home, both babies weigh exactly 2 pounds more than their respective birth weights. Pretty amazing.

Considering their true due date is March 15th (so they're -3 days old right now), these numbers put them squarely in the 50th percentile.

They did very well...we're very proud of them.

Tired but happy,
Joe

One month old and feelin' fine

Last Saturday, the twins turned one month old. Noone was more surprised than me. I was so surprised, I forgot to blog about the whole event. Only now has my consciousness returned. Where does the time go? Didn't they just come home from the hospital yesterday?!




Kevin & Jason are doing very well, eating & pooping like champs. Now if they would only allow their mother & father to sleep a bit, that would be tremendous. Even still, I wouldn't trade this for the world. They are getting bigger and cuter every day. They're our little adorable aliens.


I've also been preparing some more photos for the blog and perhaps a video file (if I can up the contrast). So there's more on the way. I'll also have another blog tomorrow as we're on the way to the pediatrician tomorrow morning at 9 am. That, in itself, oughta be an adventure. I'll have the usual post-pediatrician stats for ya.



This weekend they got to meet more new people: Jen and Joe O'Leary (my best man) dropped by on Saturday for a visit. They weren't repulsed at the sight of our sons, so that's a plus. Have to say, it was great to see them...it's been a little while. They brought presents and lots of smiles and laughter. Thank you both.


Also, the Dohertys and my sister stopped by on Sunday. They brought Gingerbread Construction Company muffins (by far, the greatest muffins on the planet...Boston Creme is my personal favorite), a delicious homemade brunch torte and my sister brought this amazing bourbon steak & chicken, rice & peas dish. I ate pretty much the whole thing by myself. Noone else would touch it after I licked it. ;-) They also brought some Similac for the babies and some diapers. We find that feeding babies is a good thing to do.


The Johnsons are still doing tireless work (not exactly accurate...we're all very tired) around the house. Someday we'll find a way to thank them. Without their assistance, we'd be a mess...both literally and figuratively.


This weekend we'll be doing taxes and building cribs. Both activities will require my dad's expertise. He's built many cribs for his first grandchildren, Joey & Molly, so he's the man for the job.



More later,
Joe

Mimi and Papa Doherty

Last night, the Johnsons, Kathy & I sat down to dinner and ate most of the Harrow's chicken pie that my folks brought. They have been utterly amazing...my parents flew back from Florida to see the boyz and have had to endure the record breaking snowfall and precipitation that a February in New England would bring. Mimi & Papa Doherty have both held Jason & Kevin, and the boyz are thrilled with meeting their paternal grandparents.

My folks have been extremely generous in bringing their love along with lots of presents, delicious food, and a few time/life saving devices: a bottle warmer, a bottle sterilizer for the microwave (this thing kicks major buttocks) and they found the nipples for the bottles that have literally kept Kathy & I from going insane late at night (early morning, actually) when the boys were panicking with the old nipples. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for all their efforts in making our lives easier and ultimately, their grandchildrens'.

Just a quick note to ask you all to extend your thoughts and prayers to my Dad who has contracted Shingles. From what I've read, it's not contagious but very, very painful. So please, pray for a quick recovery.

And I would be remiss to all you readers out there without a cute photo of the boys in action. Enjoy: